It has been common practice in certain manufacturing practices to utilize containers manufactured from corrugated paper or fiberboard and which are mounted on a pallet. The pallets are generally manufactured of wood or corrugated fiberboard and are designed to enable forklifts to approach them from various directions to quickly and easily move them from one site to another.
Originally, such assemblies were formed from two separate units including an assembled carton and a pallet. The container was constructed prior to mounting them on the pallet for use. Significant amounts of storage area were required if the containers were stored for reuse.
Collapsible containers for use with a pallet were designed to overcome this problem. Initial attempts included containers that had side walls or end walls which were collapsible while the entire bottom of the container was either totally affixed to the pallet or completely removable therefrom. An example of a patent which has its entire bottom attached to the pallet is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,846 to Williams. That patent discloses a floorless container which relies on a floor form which is separate and attached to a standardized pallet. In this configuration, the container does not provide for the requisite support and the side walls can separate from the floor resulting in a weakened container.
An alternative approach has been to provide a container and pallet both being made from corrugated fiberboard or the like where the pallet can be formed from the same material as the container. Examples of such an approach may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,445,614 to Mitsumori, et al, 4,119,205 to Delany, 3,743,166 to Heavner, 3,519,190 to Achermann, et al, and 3,026,015 to Severn. Some of these patents illustrate a container having a pallet integrally formed with the container and able to be knocked down and folded for storage. A disadvantage of these containers which have a pallet as part thereof is that they require a significant amount of assembly time and frequently more than one person to assemble. Such configurations severely lessen their desirability for use and have an additional problem in that some may be approached with a forklift only from certain directions.
Alternative designs were developed to secure a portion of the bottom panel of the container to the pallet enabling the container to collapse onto the fixed bottom panel for storage and transportation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,922 to Northgrave, U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,687 to Silcott, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,461 to Bolton, Sr. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,637 to Shippell are examples of this approach. If the collapsed containers project outwardly beyond the periphery of the pallet or do not collapse flat generally parallel to the pallet, potential damage could result to the container during transportation and storage, the products would take up additional floor space during transport and storage, and the products would not stock well beyond a certain height.
To reduce the potential for damage, the Silcott, et al container is configured to remain within the periphery of the pallet within its collapsed state. However, a bulky silhouette results from such a configuration. Bolton provides a rigid tray which is secured to the pallet and forms a holder in which the remainder of the container is positioned and collapsed. An additional cover or lid is provided which is seated over the collapsed container and protects it from damage during transportation or storage.
Collapsible containers are inherently weaker than conventional aluminum or wooden containers of similar size and structure. Numerous attempts have been made to reinforce conventional corrugated fiberboard containers to overcome this deficiency. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,230,227 to Kowall, et al and 3,949,874 to Heavner provide wooden reinforcements in an attempt to strengthen the container construction. Reinforced containers also allow more containers and more weight to be stacked on them without damage. An alternative approach disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,609 to Lochmiller which provides a multi-piece container including locking sections which are used to reinforce the side walls of the container. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,089,417 to Osborn relies on an inner liner of corrugated fiberboard to achieve additional rigidity and strength, and does not fold or collapse into a single structure on a pallet. Such constructions, make collapsing and folding of the container difficult while adding to the height and weight of the container in its collapsed state.
The present invention incorporates many of the known benefits of collapsible containers but is an improvement in terms of strength, use, storage capabilities and general configuration.